GUILTY FL - Robert Champion, 26, FAMU drum major, dies in hazing incident, 19 Nov 2011

[daisy7]

Two FAMU Professors Fired, Linked to Hazing Case

http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/Two_FAMU_Professors_Fired_Accused_149678195.html

Two FAMU professors have resigned in the wake of a hazing scandal at a Tallahassee home.

The university intended to fire them anyway according to a letter signed by the FAMU provost.

The pledge told police that the paddling happened inside the home of FAMU music professor Diron Holloway. He says Holloway - and fellow music professor Anthony Simons - were there. The hazing accusations have now cost them their jobs.

More at link....

This should have been done by FAMU many months ago, IMO.

 

[Reality Orlando]

Again, because so many people were allegedly involved and it was not a single hit that killed this guy but accumulation of all the hits. What the law should do is increase penalties for hazing that results in death.

So, we can charge an accomplice in a robbery with murder if his partner shot and killed someone in the commission of the crime (even if he didn't pull the trigger) but can't charge these guys with murder who actually took part in the killing? He died from his injuries. If someone took part in inflicting those injuries they should be charged with murder. This poor family.

 

[jjenny]

So, we can charge an accomplice in a robbery with murder if his partner shot and killed someone in the commission of the crime (even if he didn't pull the trigger) but can't charge these guys with murder who actually took part in the killing? He died from his injuries. If someone took part in inflicting those injuries they should be charged with murder. This poor family.

DA already explained why he can't charge them with murder. Neither one of these people was trying to kill him. And neither one hit him with enough force to kill him. But combination of all the hits led to his death. Overcharging someone with a crime can lead to complete acquittal rather than conviction, so I understand perfectly well why they didn't go for murder charges.

 

[Reader]

Final defendant in FAMU hazing case turns herself in to authorities

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...rrests-final-suspect-20120506,0,2725383.story

The last defendant in a FAMU hazing investigation turned herself in to Orange County law-enforcement officers today.

Lasherry Codner, 20, was the last of 11 defendants to be charged with felony hazing in the 2011 death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion.


More at link.......

 

[daisy7]

Florida A&M University band director Julian White, who has been under intense criticism since the hazing death of drum major Robert Champion in Orlando last fall, retired unexpectedly Thursday amid more troubling revelations about the embattled Marching 100 band.

White's attorney, Chuck Hobbs, announced the decision late Thursday afternoon. White, 71, chairman of the university's music department and director of bands since 1998, had been fighting for months to keep his job.

Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Scott and the chancellor of the State University System said Thursday that FAMU's famous band, which is under indefinite suspension, is not ready to take the field again.

White's retirement comes days after FAMU revealed that at least two band members charged in Champion's death — and possibly a third — should not have been in the band, and that nearly 100 others may not have been eligible to join the band.

(snip)

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...1_band-director-florida-a-m-band-hazing-death

 

[Trino]

Incredible! 51 of the famous 100 FAMU's marching band were NOT enrolled at the school! AND, they received a per deim!

51 band members and one cheerleader who made the fatal trip to Orlando were not enrolled in school during the fall. All received per diem from the University to make the trip.

To be issued a uniform, students had to bring a copy of their class schedule to the Department of Music. No one in the registrar’s office or the Dean’s office bothered to check to see if the student was actually enrolled.

Two of those charged were NOT students. The last time they were students was in 2008 and 2009!!!

http://www.nola.com/newsflash/index...amu-students/4a2bb199113b0be1d6b6a40aad543cd9

 

[Reader]

FAMU band to remain suspended through 2012-13 in aftermath of Robert Champion's hazing death

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2...termath-of-robert-champions-hazing-death?lite

Florida A&M University’s famed marching band will remain suspended through the 2012-13 academic year as the school continues to wrestle with the aftermath of the hazing death of a drum major last fall.

FAMU President James Ammons made the announcement during a teleconference Monday with the university’s board of trustees. He said time is needed to come up with a new set of guidelines before the Marching 100 can be reinstated.

More at link....

 

[Yoda]

I know it is too little too late for Robert Champion and his family, but I am proud that someone manned up and put their foot down. Suspending the band for another year will hit alumni, enrollment and finances hard but the President of the school, and/or whomever else made the decision, put the welfare of their students back where it belongs- first. Thank you.


Another link and info about the suspension: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...8C55WA?docId=2fc735f405e945c99c937d9700bc8774

 

[Reader]

http://us.cnn.com/2012/05/24/justice/famu-hazing-documents/index.html?hpt=ju_c2

Witnesses: FAMU drum major beaten with drum mallets in hazing gauntlet

(CNN) -- Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion walked into the darkness of Bus C in a parking lot in Orlando, Florida, last fall in the hope of gaining respect from his fellow band members............

According to witnesses, Champion first endured a pummeling with fists and bass drum mallets as he sat in what the band describes as the "hot seat." The drum major then would have to "cross over," making his way through a gauntlet of punches, drumsticks and mallets toward the back of the bus........

More than 2,000 pages of police interviews with witnesses and defendants who were aboard the bus on the day of Champion's death paint the first full blow-by-blow account of what happened on the night they say Champion and two others were hazed.......

More at link....

 

[FLmom777]

I was not surprised by any of this. Both my children were members if FSU Matching Chiefs. It was well known in town that serious hazing was happening at FAMU. Some minor hazing started to find its way to FSU and was stopped immediately. After rosters are announced at the end of band tryouts, each section has initiation. They are not permitted to start without a member of the staff present, mostly grad students. My daughters initiation consisted of basically following clues that took them all over campus. At the end, they were welcomed into the section and given the nickname the upperclassmen had bestowed on them. The hazing at FAMU had already caused one of the largest band fraternities to be disbanded at their school, kappa kappa psi.

 

[Reader]

Florida A&M president resigns in wake of scandal

http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?rip_id=<[email protected]>&ps=1018

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The president of Florida A&M University submitted his resignation Wednesday, the same day the university was sued by parents of a drum major who died during a hazing. It was unclear if the two events were related.

James Ammons announced the resignation, which takes effect Oct. 11, in a letter to the chairman of the university's governing board. He said his decision came after "considerable thought, introspection and co[n]versations with my family."

The school's trustees gave Ammons a vote of no-confidence in June, after questioning his leadership in several areas, including what some saw as his lax attitude toward hazing and management of the band prior to Robert Champion's death in November.


More at link....

 

[Reader]

FAMU students will have to sign anti-hazing pledge to take classes

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/07/us/florida-famu-hazing/index.html

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: FAMU's president promises "our actions will be swift and ... decisive"

New school measures include a website through which students can report hazing to police

A FAMU band member died in 2011 after being beaten in a hazing ritual

A school dance team was suspended this week after a tip about a hazing incident

More at link.....

 

[Reader]

FAMU blames hazing victim for his own death: Heartless or prudent?

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justic...victim-for-his-own-death-Heartless-or-prudent

Florida A&M University said Tuesday that senior drum major Robert Champion's decision to take part in a violent hazing ritual, even after signing a university pledge that he would not participate in hazing, absolves the university and Florida taxpayers from liability for his death.........

“In many states, you can’t recover [in civil court] if you are the cause of your own harm, but states that have enacted hazing legislation [including Florida] recognize that this act involves a unique type of coercion which removes that defense,” says Doug Fierberg, a hazing law attorney at Bode & Grenier in Washington, D.C. “In other words, you can argue that by joining the band, Champion understood that there might be some hazing, but that’s not a defense" for the university.............

More at link......

 

[Reader]

FAMU hazing defendant enters no contest plea

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The first of a dozen defendants charged in the hazing death of a Florida A&M drum major entered a plea of no contest Tuesday to third-degree felony hazing...........

Jones refused to comment after the hearing in an Orlando courtroom. Sentencing is set for Oct. 22.

In agreeing to the deal, Circuit Judge Marc Lubet said Jones' role in the hazing death of Robert Champion was relatively minimal.


Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/09/3041691/famu-hazing-defendant-enters-no.html#storylink=cpy

 

[Reader]

http://www.wtxl.com/content/localne...g-death-of-Robert/5NtotjwRhESg__RWGk0w-g.cspx

............Judge Marc Lubet sentenced Bryan Jones, 23, to:

6 months Community Control
2 years probation
200 hours community service
4 hours hazing course

Under Community Control, Bryan Jones will be free, however will be required to wear a monitoring device.

During the sentencing, Robert Champion's mother address the court saying "...let's pretend the word hazing doesn't exist, then what you did is murder."..............

Really socked it to him, eh? (sarc off)

 

[Reader]

Florida college wants civil case dismissed in student hazing death

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/...ty-hazing-death-case-20121128,0,5831022.story

.............Champion’s family is suing the school, the owner of the bus and the driver. All have asked to have the family’s suit dismissed.

At the hearing Wednesday before Circuit Judge Walter Komanski, university attorney Rick Mitchell argued Champion chose to participate in the hazing ritual as a way of increasing his stature in the band. Champion knew the hazing was against university policy but chose to enter the bus anyway, he said, according to media reports from the courtroom.

More at link.....

 

[Reader]

Scandals threaten FAMU's accreditation

http://www.centurylink.net/news/rea...ass&action=4&lang=en&_LT=UNLC_NKNWU00L4_UNEWS

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida A&M University is being placed on a year-long probation by a regional accrediting panel after a series of scandals at the school, including the hazing death of a drum major.

FAMU officials were informed Tuesday by the Southern Association of College and Schools that its accreditation is in jeopardy.....more at link......

 

[daisy7]

ORLANDO, Fla. &#8212; Twelve former Florida A&M University band members were charged Monday with manslaughter in the 2011 hazing death of a drum major.

Ten of the band members had been charged last May with third-degree felony hazing for the death of 26-year-old Robert Champion, but the state attorney's office said they are adding the charge of manslaughter for each defendant. They also have charged two additional defendants with manslaughter, though they have yet to be arrested.

(snip)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/04/famu-hazing-case-manslaughter-charges_n_2807025.html

 

[Reader]

ORLANDO, Fla. — Twelve former Florida A&M University band members were charged Monday with manslaughter in the 2011 hazing death of a drum major.

Ten of the band members had been charged last May with third-degree felony hazing for the death of 26-year-old Robert Champion, but the state attorney's office said they are adding the charge of manslaughter for each defendant. They also have charged two additional defendants with manslaughter, though they have yet to be arrested.

(snip)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/04/famu-hazing-case-manslaughter-charges_n_2807025.html

Thanks for the news, daisy7, and thanks to Jeff Ashton! From your link:

Christopher Chestnut, an attorney for Champion's parents, said Pam and Robert Champion, Sr. were pleased with Ashton's decision to upgrade the charges.

"These charges are commensurate with the acts committed," Chestnut said. "It sends the right message regarding zero-tolerance of hazing in the FAMU band."

Prosecutors had originally filed felony hazing charges that only required that they prove the defendants took part in a hazing that resulted in death. It didn't require them to prove who struck the fatal blows.

A spokesman for State Attorney Jeff Ashton's office said the prosecutor would not comment. Ashton, a 30-year veteran who was on the team that failed to convict Casey Anthony of murder in 2011, was sworn in as the area's top prosecutor in January after beating his former boss in a hotly contested election.

 

[Reader]

Defendant gives eyewitness account of Champion's hazing death

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/feat...champion-eye-witness-20130308,0,2620035.story

Ryan Dean, a co-defendant in the hazing death Robert Champion, has provided an eyewitness account of the FAMU drum major's brutal death. The release of his statement coincided Friday with the announcement that defendant Caleb Jackson would plead guilty to participating in the hazing.

In his statement, Dean identified defendant LaSherry Codner who, he says, punched Champion and held him back from reaching the rear of the bus as he absorbed kicks and punches from other band members. Dean also described defendant Benjamin McNamee holding onto the rails of the bus as he appeared to be kicking Champion after he had fallen into a seat.

Dean named others as well..............

More at link.....